Page 23 of Alien King Crashes the Wedding

“She’s glowing! We’re glowing!” Cassiel pointed toward Vander’s shoulder. “Is she doing what I think she’s doing?” They looked at each other. All of their markings were lighting up, flaring brightly through their uniforms.

“But she’s not Lumerian,” Vander stated the obvious, confusion and disbelief oozing through his words.

Just then Rachel rushed into the room. “Cam’s on his way. He’s bringing”—her voice faded as she took in her surroundings—“what did you do to her, you bastards?”

“I don’t know,” Dagan forced out. “She’s human. It must be from the maju paste.” His voice sounded strangled as he looked to Falden, his eyes overly bright with unshed tears. “Get the medical team here. Now.”

“Dagan, I’ve seen this before. I know what to do,” Falden said far too calmly, slowly, as if he were trying to coax a wild animal to come closer. “She’s going to burn you alive in the state she’s in. Your skin is blistering. Let me carry her. My armor will protect me and we’ll get you both out of here.”

Before Dagan could agree, a deafening boom sounded outside and the whole building shook. A rafter ripped through the ceiling and swung dangerously close to Dagan and Sasha, crashing through the wooden table to the side and splintering the heavy oak into jagged pieces.

“Fucking Vilitos!” Vander shouted over the non-stop booming sound. “They’re trying to take out the base, and the city with it! There must be a hundred buildings on fire, ready to collapse.”

Suddenly glass from the large windows blasted through the room, shards flying in every direction. Dagan hunched protectively over Sasha, his leg spurting blood as a flying shard buried itself deeply into his thigh. Unwilling to let Sasha go, he grit his teeth against the searing, burning pain in his hands and face, the pain in his leg, and stood. He staggered to the bathroom and stepped into the large Jacuzzi tub in the center of the room. He sank down, covering her protectively with his much larger body, gathering her infinitesimally closer as the building shook, uncaring of the pain. “Whatever you’re going to do, just do it now!” Dagan shouted, his heart pounding.

Gareth shouted over the growing noise, crouching down to keep his balance as the building shook again. “The whole building is about to collapse!” He coughed as the acrid smell of smoke and raging fires filled his nostrils. “I don’t think we can make it out of here through the main entrance!”

“He’s right!” Cassiel yelled in Falden’s direction over the explosive noises all around them. “Do it now before she dies! We can block most of the debris, as long as the frame doesn’t collapse!”

“If I use a Lumerian Orb out in the open, our enemies may be able to detect it! We could be discovered!” shouted Falden, needing to be sure they understood the grave risk to all of them. “We may all die trying to save her!” Falden looked around at his men. All good, strong, brave warriors. One by one they nodded and reached over their shoulders to draw out previously cloaked, ancient, rune covered swords made of an otherworldly material. Each sword was unique in color, the blades semi-liquid and swirling like smoke around the ancient runes engraved with laser precision down the center. They gathered in a loose semicircle around Dagan and Sasha, facing outward, swords at the ready, and waited.

Gareth looked at Dagan and Sasha and shouted to Falden, “Hurry! Dagan’s lips are turning blue and he’s got fluid blisters all over the place! I think he’s going into shock!”

Falden nodded grimly and reached over his shoulder to draw out an ancient sword from its scabbard. The blade was a mixture of solid and liquid metal, and shimmered and swirled with silver and black. Ancient Lumerian runes were etched along the blade and briefly flashed with blue light. He carefully positioned the sword so that he could make a small cut on the palm of his hand. He pressed his palm against the blade and sliced through the skin, then returned the sword to its rune covered scabbard, which immediately cloaked itself once more. A few drops of blood beaded on his palm, which he wiped across a small digital display on his armored forearm and tapped in a series of Lumerian symbols.

“Identify,” said a disembodied female voice in Lumerian.

“Falden Corshival,” he shouted, ducking quickly to avoid being hit by a piece of falling ceiling.

“Scanning,” said the voice. A blue sheet of light panned Falden from head to toe.

“Artifact?” asked the voice.

“Lumerian Orb,” he shouted urgently.

“Retrieving,” said the voice.

Falden raised his hand, palm up, and waited as the orb materialized as a tiny pebble, then expanded until it fit perfectly into his hand. The inside of the crystal swirled mysteriously with sparkling silver and gray smoky mist. He made his way to Dagan and Sasha, whose breathing was far too rapid to be normal.

Falden leaned closer to Dagan and shouted, “Dagan! Can you hear me? You have to be awake for this to work!”

Dagan shifted his head slightly, unable to do more than croak, “I’m here.”

Falden stepped into the tub and held the orb over Dagan and Sasha. He watched as the orb levitated from his open palm, expanding ever larger until it encompassed the three of them inside its frigid interior. Their warm breath crystallized and mixed with the swirling silver and gray mist as they exhaled. All the noises from outside the orb were muted. Far away.

“Dagan,” Falden said, wariness clear in his tone. “I don’t have time to fully explain, except to tell you that in order to save Sasha’s life, she must submit to a Lumerian ‘Yielding’.” Falden drew his sword. “You must place my sword between the two of you.”

Dagan shifted to his side, his body shaking from the continued burning, yet still careful to support his weight on his arm so as not to crush Sasha as he maneuvered them into a side by side position in the cramped tub. Large blisters on his hands and arms ripped, and fluid ran freely down them. He hissed in pain but said nothing.

Falden placed his sword between Dagan and Sasha. “You will each need a few drops of blood to activate the yielding. You’re still bleeding from the glass in your leg. You can use that, and Sasha can use my sword to make a small cut. Smear the blood on the divot you see there in the pommel, and it will begin.” He watched as first Dagan did as instructed, then with Dagan’s help, Sasha followed suit, making a small cut on her finger and placing the blood in the divot. Immediately, the cold air inside the orb felt charged. Every hair on their bodies stood on end.

“Now listen carefully,” Falden commanded. “This will link your life-forces. Sashamusthave an anchor to survive what’s happening inside her. You have chosen each other, so you should be that anchor. In her condition, this type of joining will be extremely dangerous for both of you, and you may both die if one of you is unable to complete the ritual. Dagan, you must yield all that you are to Sasha; your heart, your mind, your soul, your life, and she must do the same for you, to become something more together. Do you understand? It’s not like your Caldorian Binding Ceremony. Good or bad, it’s forever. You live together. Die together.

Falden looked grim. “Do you yield to Sasha Montgomery?”

Dagan didn’t hesitate, “Yes. Yes, I yield.” His voice was scratchy and full of pain. “She’s everything to me,” he gritted through his teeth, the pain so intense he nearly passed out. “Everything. I understand. I yield.”

. One half of the ancient runes on the blade began to glow with an eerie blue light. An arc of lightning lashed out from the pommel and struck Dagan in the heart, holding the connection between his body and the sword. Dagan’s pain wracked body convulsed, arching back from the electrical current.

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